Land mine and fuse



Jully 2U, 1943. B. P. JOYCE ETAL LAND MINE AND FUSE Filed Jan. 30, 19412 Sheets-Sheet l g r 9 2$ w fw 5 F 5 a 1 a W 1% 2 g BRYAN P JOYCE HAROLDM. BRAYTON DAVID J. WALSH DAVID DARDICK WITNESS July 20, 1943.. B. P.JOYCE EFAL LAND MINE AND FUSE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30. 1941 DAVIDDARDI CK Patented July 20, 1943 2,324,&46

"NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LAND MINE AND FUSE Application January 30,1941, Serial No. 376,680

14 Claims.

The invention aims to provide a thoroughly modern land mine for useagainst tanks and other vehicles which may pass over a planted minefield, said mine being of unusually light weight, yet rugged and highlyeffective.

In carrying out the above end, a further object is to provide a minethoroughly impervious to moisture and thus capable of being emplaced fora long period with no danger of impairing its effectiveness.

A still further object is to provide a simple, inexpensive and efficientmine fuse construction and one which possesses novel safety featurespreventing accidental discharge even if the mine is roughly handled,accidentally dropped, etc.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides inthe novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, descriptionbeing accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the assembled mine and fuse,illustrating the moisture excluding cap in section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the fuse and theupper end of the mine, illustrating the parts in unarmed position.

Fig. 3 is a Vertical sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional View on line t-d of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a smaller view similar to Fig. -2 but illustrating theparts inarmed position.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the firing pin depressedto its detonator-firing position.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the fuse before connecting it with the minebody.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation partly broken away and in sectionillustrating the manner in which the detonator carrier of the fuse ispositively held in unarmed position prior to connection of the fuse withthe mine body.

Features of construction have been illustrated which have proven highlyeffective and desirable, and they will be rather specifically described,with the understanding, however, that variations may be made within thescope of the invention as claimed.

The mine I is preferably of cast iron with a plugged opening I I in itsbottom to facilitate loading with cast explosive l2, the explosivebethese parts are covered and protected by a cap IQ of rubber or thelike. The lower end of the cap side wall fluid-tightly surrounds theboss l3, and by means of a spring wire collar 20, said side wall isdistorted into fluid-tight engagement with the groove M of said boss.Thus, moisture is-entirely excluded from the interior of the fuse andfrom the interior of the mine body and consequently the assemblage mayremain buried in the ground for long periods of time without affectingits effectiveness in any manner.

The fuse body I! is provided with an outer relatively large bore 2|opening through its outer end, with an inner comparatively small bore 22opening through its inner end, and with a transverse bore 23 betweensaidbores 2i and 22. A small central opening 24 is formed in the body toplace the lower end of the bore 2| in communication with'the transversebore 23, and another central opening 25 is formed in said body from saidbore 23 to the bore 22. This latter opening 25 receives a lead 26preferably of tetryl, and the bore 22 receives abooster charge 21 alsopreferabl of tetryl, said booster charge being held in said bore 22 bymeans of a screw cap 28. The tetryl lead 26 is enclosed in anappropriate capsule 29, the upper end of which projects slightly intothe transverse bore 23.

A detonator carrier 30 is slidably received in the transverse bore 23,the detonator carried by said carrier being shown at 3|. When the fuseandthe mine body are assembled, this carrier 30 is yieldably held in theunarmed position shown in Fig. 2 by means of a coiled spring 32, theouter end of which abuts a disk 33 which closes the outer end of thebore 23. Prior to assembly of the fuse to the mine body, however, thecarrier 30 is positively held in unarmed position by means of the screw34 shown in Fig. 8, said screw being threaded through an opening in saiddisk 33. The screw head 35 projects from the fuse body I! tosuch anextent that said body cannot be inserted into the cup 16 until the screwis removed and there is thus no danger of relatively assembling fuse andmine with the detonator carrier positively held against subsequentmovement to the armed position shown in Fig. 5.

The end of the carrier remote from the spring 32, is provided with aninclined cam 36, and opposite sides of said carrier have upwardly facinglongitudinal shoulders 31, each interrupted by a notch 38 (see Fig. 4)for cooperation with other elements hereinafter described. The lowerside of the carrier 3|) is also provided with a fiat 39 which slidablycontacts with the projecting upper end of the capsule 29 to hold saidcarrier against tilting about its longitudinal axis.

The striker IB is formed with an inner relatively large and long bore45, with an outer shorter and smaller bore 4|, and with an opening 42placing said bores in communication with each other. The plunger 43 of afiring pin 44 is slidably mounted in the lower end of the bore 40, saidfiring pin 44 being in alinement with the opening 24 in the fuse body11. A coiled compression spring 45 is housed in the bore with its innerend disposed against the plunger 43 and with its outer end reactingagainst the striker 3, said spring being adapted to depress the firingpin after the detonator carrier 3|] has been moved to the armedposition. The spring while normally under some degree of compression, iscompressed to a fully operative state by the depression of the strikerl8, the firing pin being held against starting down under the action ofsaid spring until this spring has been properly compressed and until thedetonator carrier 30 has moved to the armed position of Fig. 5, at whichtime the means for holding the firing pin against descent, isautomatically released, whereupon the firing pin is forced down underthe full strength of the compressed spring 45 to fire the detonator (seeFig. 6), the result being that the detonator fires the lead 26, thislead fires the booster charge 21, and the latter explodes the minecharge I2.

In the present disclosure, the means for holding the firing pin againstdescent until the proper time has arrived for such descent, consistspartly of the shoulders 31 on the carrier 30, and partly of two verticalrods 46 which are secured to the firing pin plunger 43 and rest on saidshoulders 31 until the carrier 30 has moved to the armed position ofFig. 5. When the carrier has reached this position, however, the notches38 of the shoulders 31 (Fig. 4) have arrived under the pins 46 with theresult that these pins are released, permitting descent of the firingpin. During this descent, the lower ends of the rods 45 simply movedownwardly in the bores 41 (Fig. 3) in which said rods are received.

As a precaution against the firing pin being forced down by the spring45 in case the detonator carrier 3|] should be jarred to armed position(releasing the pins 46), we connect the plunger 43 with the striker I8by means of an appropriate suspender 48, which suspender will prohibitdescent of the firing pin until the striker |8 has been depressed withrespect to said firing pin, as will be clear by a comparison of Figs. 3and 5, for example. By the time the parts have reached the Fig. 5position, the pins 46 have been released and the firing pin can then beforced down by means of the spring 45.

The suspender 48 is preferably in the form of a screw which passesthrough the opening 42 of the striker, the lower end of said screw beingthreaded into the firing pin plunger 43 while the head 49 of said screwis received in the outer bore 4| of the striker; As the striker descendsto compress the spring 45 and move the detonator carrier 30 to armedposition, the screw 48 simply slides in the opening 42. To prevent anymoisture or foreign matter from entering through this opening and thecommunicating bores 4| and 4!], the outer end of said bore 4| issuitably sealed as shown at 50.

Reference has above been made to the downward movement of the striker l8moving the detonator carrier 3|] to the armed position of Fig. 5. In thepresent disclosure, this is accomplished by the cooperation of the cam36 on the carrier 30 and an arming rod 5| which is secured to andprojects downwardly from the striker I8. The lower end of the rodnormally contacts with the upper end of the cam 36 as seen in Figure 2and as the striker is depressed, the rod and cam cooperate in forcingthe carrier 30 to armed position, as will be clear from Fig. 5. Thefinal downward movement of the striker I8 alines a recess 52 in itsperiphery with a spring-pressed bolt 53 carried by the fuse body ll,whereupon said bolt is projected as seen in Fig. 6 to lock the strikerH3 in its completely lowered position. Ordinarily the pin 53 would notbe required but it is advisable to provide same in case of any possibleforce depressing the striker and then releasing same so quickly that theparts could not act to fire the fuse.

Before emplacing the mine, the striker I8 is held in safety position bymeans of a safety rod 54 shown in Fig. 7, said rod being held againstaccidental removal by cotter pins or the like 55. When emplacing themine, this safety rod is of course removed. Even then, however, thestriker I8 is held against accidental depression by means of anappropriate shear pin 56. This shear pin is preferably such that it willnot shear under less than 500 pounds weight upon the striker i8, thusprotecting men walking over a planted mine field, yet insuring thatpassage of tanks, vehicles or cavalry over said field, shall depress thestriker.

While the operation would probably be clear from the foregoing, it maybe briefed as follows: The parts normally stand in the unarmed positionshown in Fig. 2, said parts being then protected, however, by the cap l9shown only in Fig. 1. Should the striker I8 be now depressed, itsdownward movement will cause 5| and 36 to move the detonator carrier 39to the armed po sition shown in Fig. 5. During this descent of 8, thefiring pin 43, 44 is held against descent by means of the rods 46 andthe cooperating shoulders 31. By the time the detonator carrier 35 hasmoved to completely armed position (Fig. 5), however, the rods 43 arereleased and the spring 45 which was fully compressed by descent of thestriker, acts to immediately force the firing pin downwardly, firing thedetonator 3| and thus exploding the mine.

While during normal handling of the mine before and during emplacement,the spring 32 would hold the detonator carrier in the unarmed positionof Fig. 2, there is of course the possibility that in case the mineshould be dropped or otherwise violently jolted, said carrier might moveto armed position. Were it not for the safety suspender 48, there mightthen be a possibility of the same shock causing the firing pin to firethe detonator, Due to the use of said suspender 48, however, the firingpin cannot descend until the striker H3 is forced down, and suchmovement of said striker is prohibited until final emplacement of themine, by means of the safety pin 54.

From the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made forcarrying out the objects of the invention, and While preferred featuresof construction have been illustrated, attention is again invited to thepossibility of marking variations within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position, depressible means carried bysaid body, means in said body actuated by said depressible means formoving said carrier to armed position, spring-actuated detonator-firingmeans in said body, and means controlled by said carrier for normallyholding said spring-actuated firing means against operation and forreleasing said spring-actuated firing means upon arrival of saiddetonator carrier at armed position.

2. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position, depressible means carried bysaid body, means in said body actuated by said depressible means formoving said carrier to armed position, detonator firing means in saidbody having an actuating spring stressed for operation by depression ofsaid depressible means, and means released by movement of said carrierto armed position for holding said firing means against operation untilsaid spring has been stressed to a fully operative extent.

3. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position and mounted for movement to armedposition, a downwardly movable detonator firing pin above said carrier,a depressible striker carried by and projecting above said body, aspring interposed between said striker and said firing pin for operatingthe latter when compressed by depression of said striker, means actuatedby depression of said striker for moving said carrier to armed position,and means released by movement of said carrier to said armed positionfor holding said firing pin against descent While said striker iscompressing said spring.

4. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position and mounted for movement to armedposition, a downwardly movable detonator firing pin above said carrier,a depressible striker carried by and projecting above said body, aspring interposed between said striker and said firing pin for operatingthe latter when compressed by depression of said striker, a vertical rodslidably mounted in said body in position to be downwardly pushed bysaid striker, a cam on said carrier in the downward path of said rod andcooperable with the latter for moving said carrier to armed positionwhen said striker pushes said rod downwardly, and means released bymovement of said carrier to armed position for holding said firing pinagainst descent while said striker is compressing said spring.

5. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position and mounted for movement to armedposition, a downwardly movable detonator firing pin above said carrier,a depressible striker carried by and projecting above said body, aspring interposed between said striker and said firing pin for operatingthe latter when compressed by depression of said striker, means actuatedby depression of said striker for moving said carrier to armed position,and a vertical rod supporting said firing pin and supported by saidcarrier for holding said firing pin against descent until said carrieroccupies armed position, said rod being then released by said carrier.

6. A land mine fuse having a detonator carrier and means for moving samefrom a normally unarmed position to an armed position, a detonatorfiring pin, a spring for depressing said firing pin when stressed, astriker for stressing said spring, and means released by said carrierfor holding said firing pin against descent until said carrier occupiesarmed position.

7. A land mine fuse having a detonator carrier and means for moving samefrom a normally unarmed position to an armed position, a detonatorfiring pin, a spring for depressing said firing pin when compressed, astriker for compressing said spring, and a vertically slidable rodSupporting said firing pin and supported by said carrier for holdingsaid firing pin against descent until said carrier occupies armedposition.

8. A land mine fuse having a detonator carrier and means for moving samefrom a normally unarmed position to an armed position, detonator firingmeans having an actuating spring, a depressible member for stressingsaid spring for action, and means released by said carrier for holdingsaid firing means against operation until said carrier occupies armedposition.

9. A land mine fuse having a downwardly movable firing pin, acompression spring for actuating said firing pin, a depressible memberfor compressing said spring, a downwardly slidable vertical rod normallysupporting said firing pin against descent, a movable support normallysupporting said rod against descent, and means for moving said supportto an inoperative position When said spring has been operativelycompressed.

10. A land mine fuse having a detonator carrier and means for movingsame to armed position, and detonator firing means under the control ofsaid carrier and brought into play by movement of said carrier to armedposition.

11. In a land mine fuse, a fuse body, a downwardly slidable firing pinin said body, a spring for operating said firing pin when compressed, astriker carried by said body for compressing said spring when saidstriker is depressed, a detonator carrier in said body and yieldablemeans normally holding it in unarmed position, means actuated by saidstriker for moving said carrier to armed position as said strikerdescends, means released by movement of said carrier to armed positionfor holding said firing pin against descent, and a suspender connectingsaid firing pin with said striker for preventing descent of said firingpin with respect to said striker if said carrier should prematurelyrelease said firing pin holding means by accidental movement to armedposition, said suspender being so connected that it will not interferewith descent of said striker with respect to said firing pin.

12. In a land mine fuse, a body having a portion for reception in anopening in a mine, a detonator carrier in said fuse body, and a safetydevice removably carried by said fuse body and normally abutting saidcarrier to hold the latter in unarmed position, said safety devicehaving an outer end projecting outwardly beyond said portion of saidfuse body in position to abut the mine and prevent reception of saidportion of said body in said opening, whereby said safety device must beremoved before said portion of the fuse body can be inserted into saidopening.

13. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position, depressible means carried bysaid body and projecting above the same for depression by means of avehicle passing over the mine, means in said body establishing apositive operating connection from said depressible means to saidcarrier and actuated by said depressible means for moving said carrierto armed position, and normally held self-acting detonator firing meansin said body under the control of said carrier and released foractuation by movement of said carrier to armed position.

14. In a land mine fuse, a body, a detonator carrier in said bodynormally occupying an unarmed position, depressible means carriedby saidbody and projecting above the same for depression by means of a vehiclepassing over the mine, means in said body establishing a positiveoperating connection from said depressible means to said carrier andactuated by said depressible means for moving said carrier to armedposition, detonator firing means in said body having an actuating springstressed for operation by depression of said depressible means, andautomatically released means in said body controlled by said depressiblemeans for preventing actuation of said firing means until said springhas been stressed to a fully operative extent.

BRYAN P. JOYCE. HAROLD M. BRAYTON. DAVID J. WALSH. DAVID DARDICK.

